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Prince Kyei Baffour

Senior Lecturer

Prince is a Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University School of Health.

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About

Prince is a Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University School of Health.

Prince Kyei Baffour is a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University. He brings in a rich blend of clinical, teaching and research experience. He has a clinical experience in Burns Intensive Care and Medical Frailty. Whiles working in the NHS, along his clinical work, he was also involved in supporting student nurses in practice as well as providing teaching and support for newly recruited Healthcare Assistants (Care Support Workers). His research interest and previous research span across improving care outcomes for burn patients, palliative care in fast-paced settings, preventing diabetic foot complications, healthcare staff and patient safety.

Prince is also involved in projects to tackle childhood malnutrition in Ghana where he is from. He has a future interest in exploring research and projects that make use of technology to make student learning and experience more fun, optimizing patient safety and reducing the stress of nurses and other health professionals.

Outside work, Prince enjoys listening to music and podcasts (from all over the world), exploring new cities and chatting with friends.

One of Prince's principles for life is "Do unto others as you want them to do unto you." This is a principle he believes has guided and helped him both professionally and personally.

One of Prince's favourite quotes is by Bruce Lee: "Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."

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School of Health

Research interests

Prince's current research interests include prevention of burn complications and using reflection to make clinical work more meaningful for healthcare professionals.

Publications (15)

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Journal article

“Resuscitate and Push”: End-of-Life Care Experiences of Healthcare Staff in the Emergency Department – A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study

Featured 31 October 2022 Journal of Palliative Care37(4):494-502 (9 Pages) SAGE Publications
AuthorsBayuo J, Anago EK, Agyei FB, Salifu Y, Kyei Baffour P, Atta Poku C

Objective: Care in the emergency department focuses significantly on delivering lifesaving/ life-sustaining clinical actions, often with limited attention to health-related suffering even at the end-of-life. How healthcare staff experience and navigate through the end-of-life phase remains minimally explored. Thus, this study aimed to uncover the lived experiences of emergency department staff at the end-of-life. Methods: van Manen’s hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used. Nineteen healthcare staff were purposively recruited and interviewed. Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and thematic categories formulated. The existential lifeworld themes (corporeality, relationality, spatiality, and temporality) were used as heuristic guides for reflecting and organizing the lived experiences of participants. Results: The overarching category, ‘resuscitate and push’, was captured as corporeality (resisting death and dying); relationality (connectedness to the body of the patient; and lacking support for family and self); spatiality (navigating through a liminal space and lack of privacy for patients); and temporality (having limited to no time for end-of-life care and grieving). The end-of-life space was unpleasant. Although participants experienced helplessness and feelings of failure, support systems to help them to navigate through these emotions were lacking. Grief was experienced covertly and concealed by the entry of a new patient. Conclusion: End-of-life in the emergency department is poorly defined. In addition to shifting from the traditional emergency care model to support the streamlining of palliative care in the department, staff will require support with navigating through the liminal space, managing their grief, and developing a better working relationship with patients/ families.

Journal article

Clinical management of an adult burned patient following alcohol intoxication: A case report

Featured October 2020 Burns Open4(4):183-185 Elsevier BV
AuthorsKyei Baffour P, Fiifi-Yankson PK, Allotey G

An estimated 38.1% of the world’s population aged 15 years and above are regular drinkers. Alcohol consumption has been found to be one of the risk factors for morbidity, disability and mortality, accounting for 3 million deaths annually (5.3% of all deaths) globally. In Ghana, an estimated 23.3% of the population take alcohol with 2.1% being heavy drinkers. Despite efforts made in Ghana to control alcohol consumption and misuse, there have been loopholes that have allowed it to persist. This paper presents a case of a 38-year old male patient who fell face down into a tripod stove following alcohol intoxication leading to deep burns. The case is being reported to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol consumption in relation to burns. It also seeks to generate interest and discussion on how such injuries can be prevented in future and managed if they happen to occur. It is recommended that strict measures are put in place to control the unrestricted access to alcohol and education improved to curb the numerous negative effects of alcohol consumption and misuse.

Journal article

Developing support strategies for burn care nurses through an understanding of their experiences: <scp>A</scp> meta‐ethnographic study

Featured April 2019 International Journal of Nursing Practice25(2):e12685 Wiley
AuthorsBayuo J, Agyei Bediako F, Allotey G, Kyei Baffour P

Abstract

Aim

To build a comparative understanding of nurses' experiences with caring for burned patients with the goal of eliciting possible support strategies.

Background

Considering the stressful nature of burns nursing, there is a need to develop support strategies for burn care nurses.

Design

This meta‐ethnographic study used Noblit and Hare's approach and followed PRISMA guidelines.

Data sources

The search databases included PsycINFO, EbscoHost, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, and PubMed from 1990 to 2017.

Review methods

Qualitative studies were included in the review if they examined burn care nurses' experiences. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme quality assessment tool was used to appraise each study.

Results

Ten papers (six articles and four theses) published between 1998 and 2014 met the criteria for inclusion. Three key concepts were generated from the synthesis: becoming a burns nurse, work environment, and nurses' emotional responses. The relationships between the concepts were noted to be reciprocal, from which a line of argument was developed using Schutz notion of constructs.

Conclusion

There is a need to establish structures that can encourage burn care nurses to verbalise their feelings as well as strengthen the nursing team.

Journal article

Healthcare Staff Perceptions Regarding Barriers and Enablers to End-of-Life Care Provision in Non-Palliative Care Settings in Ghana: A Multicentre Qualitative Study

Featured 28 January 2022 Omega: Journal of Death and Dying89(1):1-16 (16 Pages) SAGE Publications

The projected rise in health-related suffering warrants the integration of palliative care across all health systems. For traditionally non-palliative care settings, barriers and enablers to palliative care integration remain poorly understood. This study sought to explore these barriers and enablers in the Emergency and Burn Units across two healthcare facilities in the middle belt of Ghana using qualitative description. Thirty-nine healthcare staff comprising 20 burn care staff and 19 ED staff were purposively recruited and interviewed. Interviews were transcribed following which thematic analysis was performed inductively. Two themes and six subthemes emerged from the data. The Ghanaian socio-cultural context often crippled the discussion of death and dying. Overall, there is a perceived tension between emergency/burns and end-of-life care. Opportunities however exist to improve the situation which will require more work regarding curricula improvement, providing avenues for professional development, culturally sensitive communication, and identifying strategies of engaging relatives.

Journal article

“Managing uncertainty”: Experiences of family members of burn patients from injury occurrence to the end-of-life period

Featured 30 November 2021 Burns47(7):1647-1655 (9 Pages) Elsevier
AuthorsBayuo J, Bristowe K, Harding R, Agbeko AE, Baffour PK, Agyei FB, Wong FKY, Allotey G, Agbenorku P, Hoyte-Williams PE

Background Although mortality rates associated with burns have decreased, there is still a significant number of persons who may not survive severe forms of the injury and thus, undergo comfort/end of life care. The experiences of family members of persons whose injuries are deemed unsurvivable remain minimally explored and there is a general lack of practice guidelines and recommendations to support them at the end-of-life period. Aim To explore the experiences of family members whose relatives died in the burn unit to inform the development of practice recommendations. Methods Qualitative description was employed for this study. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 23 family members of injured persons who died in the burn unit. Face to face semi-structured interviews were conducted and followed up with telephone interviews. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis performed inductively. Results Three themes emerged: reactions following injury occurrence, navigating through the experience, and managing uncertainties about survival. The sudden nature of the injury led to feelings of self-blame, guilt, helplessness, and grief and these escalated at the end of life. As the family members journeyed through their uncertainties regarding the outcomes of care, they had a feeling of being a part of the patient’s suffering. Family members received little professional support in coming to terms with their loss in the post-bereavement period. Conclusions Family members experience distress following the occurrence of burns and at the endof-life period. Practice recommendations should focus on communication, bereavement, and post-bereavement support.

Journal article

Burns in the middle belt of Ghana: A systematic review

Featured April 2018 Burns Open2(2):85-89 Elsevier BV
AuthorsBayuo J, Agyei FB, Baffour PK

Background Burns are a major global public health issue affecting persons of all ages. Various studies have indicated that developing countries share a greater burden of the injury. Despite this fact, Ghana as a developing country lacks a burn repository and that makes it difficult to clearly understand the bigger picture of the injury. To this end, this study aimed to systematically review primary studies of burn occurrence in the country. Methodology A comprehensive literature search was undertaken using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, MEDLINE and EMBASE. The keywords used were “burns, epidemiology, Ghana, injury, flame burn, scald burn, electric burn, chemical burn, contact burn and explosion”. Additional articles were identified by reviewing reference lists. The local journals such as the Postgraduate Medical Journal of Ghana were searched for the articles not indexed in PubMed or EMBASE. MOOSE guidelines were followed in executing this review. At the end of the selection process, seven papers remained and included in the study. Findings Findings from this review identified that more males than females were involved in burn injuries. Persons within the paediatric age group (particularly those under 10 years of age) were particularly susceptible to burns. This notwithstanding it was noted that there is an increasing occurrence of burns among persons in the working class group (15 years–59 years). Scald was the most common injury among the paediatric age group whilst flame burn was most common among the adult population. The home was noted to be the commonest place for burn occurrence though some disasters at fuel filling stations were recorded. The occurrence of burn was associated with various burned surface area and from the studies reviewed it was noted that higher total burned surface area (TBSA) may be linked to increasing mortality rates. Length of hospitalisation ranged from less than 10 days to 760 days. Epilepsy was reported by one study as a pre-morbid condition. Conclusion Burns represent a significant public health problem in Ghana and there is a need for the design of more effective intervention to reduce the occurrence of the injury. A larger scale research is imperative to investigate burns epidemiology from a national perspective.

Journal article

Patients’ knowledge of diabetes foot complications and self-management practices in Ghana: A phenomenological study

Featured 25 August 2021 PLOS ONE16(8):1-15 (15 Pages) Public Library of Science (PLoS)
AuthorsAuthors: Bossman IF, Dare S, Oduro BA, Baffour PK, Hinneh TK, Nally JE, Editors: Thet Wai K

Background The prevalence of diabetes is increasing in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and over two-thirds of these are not diagnosed. Consequently, diabetes complications usually exist at the time of diagnosis. Foot ulcers is a leading cause of disability and mortality among diabetes patients. Purpose To assess the knowledge and experiences of adult patients with Diabetes on diabetes complications and self-management practices with emphasis on foot care. Methodology This applied phenomenological study design. Twenty patients attending Diabetes clinics were purposively sampled from two hospitals in Ghana. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted to evaluate patient’s understanding of diabetes and self-management practices. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed, and analysed to generate themes using the constant comparison method. Results Three-quarters of the participants in the study correctly defined diabetes as high blood glucose levels, but few knew the risk factors and complications of diabetes. Stroke and Hypertension were the most popular complications known, whiles diabetes foot complications were the least known. Almost all participants showed awareness of dietary self-management practices, but few had limited knowledge in foot care practices. Conclusion Diabetes education in LMICs should promote self-management practices, especially foot care and clear dietary guidelines. There is also opportunity to invest in specialist diabetes training for healthcare providers and increase community-based care for people living with diabetes in Ghana.

Journal article

Global epidemiology of geriatric burns, capacities of care, and injury outcomes: Perspectives from the World Health Organization global burn registry

Featured October 2023 Burns49(8):1796-1807 Elsevier
AuthorsBayuo J, Agbeko AE, Wong KCA, Wong FKY, Baafi EO, Baffour PK, Naw HE, Agbenorku P

Background An increasing aging population alongside a potentially increasing injury risk emphasizes a critical need for evidence-based burn care regarding preventive and therapeutic strategies tailored to the unique needs of older adults. However, there is a critical gap in understanding geriatric burn trends on a global scale and the care capacity across settings. Thus, this study sought to ascertain the global trend of geriatric burns with a focus on patient demographics, injury characteristics, capacities of care, and injury outcomes. Methods A retrospective design focusing on older adults aged ≥ 60 years with burns recorded in the World Health Organization Global Burn Registry as of 31st May 2023 was employed. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. Results Of the 9277 records obtained from the Global Burn Registry, 849 participants (9.2%) were aged ≥ 60 years with the majority of these reported from the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) and Southeast Asia (SEARO) regions. More females than males were involved in burn injuries with the most common aetiological factor being flame. Most burns occurred in the home/ domestic setting with a seasonal variation (more injuries occurred in December and January). In terms of burn care capacity, the data suggest the availability of specialized services in most settings albeit the AFRO and SEARO regions still lacked the resources to offer specialized burn care. While most injured older adults were discharged home with no physical impairment (395, 46.5%), a substantial number died (250, 29.4%) during hospitalization, particularly in the African (AFRO) region and 111 (11.1%) left the facility against medical advice with the majority from the SEARO region (88). Conclusion Burn injuries in older adults remain a public health issue. On the preventive aspect, the results demonstrate a need to intensify safety in the home or domestic setting, and during festive seasons. Therapeutically, the findings underscore a need to consider the inclusion of more specialist geriatric and palliative care services in the burn management process. Additionally, there is a need to strengthen burn care capacity in the AFRO and SEARO regions.

Journal article

“Surviving to thriving”: a meta-ethnography of the experiences of healthcare staff caring for persons with COVID-19

Featured 21 October 2021 BMC Health Services Research21(1):1-14 (14 Pages) BioMed Central
AuthorsAgyei FB, Bayuo J, Baffour PK, Laari C

Background The emergence of the Coronavirus disease has heightened the experience of emotional burden among healthcare staff. To guide the development of support programmes, this review sought to aggregate and synthesise qualitative studies to establish a comparative understanding of the experiences of healthcare staff caring for persons with the disease. Design A meta-ethnography approach was used to aggregate and synthesise primary qualitative studies. Database search was undertaken from January to November 2020. A standardised tool was used to extract data from the identified primary studies. The studies were translated into each other to formulate overarching concepts/ metaphors which formed the basis of undertaking a narrative synthesis. Results Eight qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Two overarching metaphors/ concepts were formulated from the primary studies: 1) surviving to thriving in an evolving space and 2) support amid the new normal. The initial phase of entering the space of caring during the outbreak was filled with psychological chaos as healthcare staff struggled to survive within the context of an illness which was not fully understood. Gradually, healthcare staff may transition to a thriving phase characterised by resilience but still experienced heavy workload and physical/ emotional exhaustion predisposing them to burnout and compassion fatigue. Fear persisted throughout their experiences: fear of contracting the disease or infecting one’s family members/ loved ones remained a key concern among healthcare staff despite infection precaution measures. Healthcare staff who contracted the disease felt isolated with additional fears of dying alone. The sources of support were varied with a strong emphasis on peer support. Conclusions Healthcare staff caring for persons infected with the Coronavirus disease are at risk of burnout and compassion fatigue and require ongoing mental health support commensurate to their needs. Staff who contract the disease may require additional support to navigate through the illness and recovery. Policies and concerted efforts are needed to strengthen support systems and build resilience among healthcare staff.

Journal article

“Hanging in a balance”: A qualitative study exploring clinicians’ experiences of providing care at the end of life in the burn unit

Featured February 2021 Palliative Medicine35(2):417-425 SAGE Publications
AuthorsBayuo J, Bristowe K, Harding R, Agbeko AE, Wong FKY, Agyei FB, Allotey G, Baffour PK, Agbenorku P, Hoyte-Williams PE, Agambire R

Background:

Although the culture in burns/critical care units is gradually evolving to support the delivery of palliative/end of life care, how clinicians experience the end of life phase in the burn unit remains minimally explored with a general lack of guidelines to support them.

Aim:

To explore the end of life care experiences of burn care staff and ascertain how their experiences can facilitate the development of clinical guidelines.

Design:

Interpretive-descriptive qualitative approach with a sequential two phased multiple data collection strategies was employed (face to face semi-structured in-depth interviews and follow-up consultative meeting). Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Setting/participants:

The study was undertaken in a large teaching hospital in Ghana. Twenty burn care staff who had a minimum of 6 months working experience completed the interviews and 22 practitioners participated in the consultative meeting.

Results:

Experiences of burn care staff are complex with four themes emerging: (1) evaluating injury severity and prognostication, (2) nature of existing system of care, (3) perceived patient needs, and (4) considerations for palliative care in burns. Guidelines in this regard should focus on facilitating communication between the patient and family and staff, holistic symptom management at the end of life, and post-bereavement support for family members and burn care practitioners.

Conclusions:

The end of life period in the burn unit is poorly defined coupled with prognostic uncertainty. Collaborative model of practice and further training are required to support the integration of palliative care in the burn unit.

Journal article

The Role of Palliative Care in Burns: A Scoping Review

Featured May 2020 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management59(5):1089-1108 Elsevier BV
AuthorsBayuo J, Bristowe K, Harding R, Agyei FB, Agbeko AE, Agbenorku P, Baffour PK, Allotey G, Hoyte-Williams PE

CONTEXT: Patients with severe burns may face distressing symptoms with a high risk of mortality as a result of their injury. The role of palliative care in burns management remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To appraise the literature on the role of palliative care in burns management. METHODS: We used scoping review with searches in 12 databases from their inception to August 2019. The citation retrieval and retention are reported in a PRISMA statement. FINDINGS: 39 papers comprising of 30 primary studies (26 from high-income and four from middle-income countries), four reviews, two editorials, two guidelines, and one expert board review document were retained in the review. Palliative care is used synonymously with comfort and end-of-life care in burns literature. Comfort care is mostly initiated when active treatment is withheld (early deaths) or withdrawn (late deaths), limiting its overall benefits to burn patients, their families, and health care professionals. Futility decisions are usually complex and challenging, particularly for patients in the late death category, and it is unclear if these decisions result in timely commencement of comfort care measures. Three comfort care pathways were identified, but it remained unclear how these pathways evaluated "good death" or supported the family which creates the need for the development of other evidence-based guidelines. CONCLUSION: Palliative care is applicable in burns management, but its current role is mostly confined to the end-of-life period, suggesting that it is not been fully integrated in the management process. Evidence-based guidelines are needed to support the integration and delivery of palliative care in the burn patient population.

Journal article

“Of Fear and Hope”, A Reflexive Ethnography of Uncertainty Following A Needle Stick Injury

Featured 03 December 2019 jaid JScholar
Journal article
Sexual Role Functioning, Sexual Satisfaction, and Intimacy After Surviving Burn Injuries: A Scoping Review of Associated Factors, Screening Tools, and Burn Care Staff Preparedness.
Featured 31 August 2024 Journal of Burn Care & Research45(4):990-1000 Oxford University Press
AuthorsBayuo J, Wong AKC, Wong FKY, Baffour PK, Kuug A

Although concerns regarding intimacy abound among burn survivors, these are often not captured during rehabilitation. Considering that sexuality remains a part of humans suggests a critical need to pay attention to this aspect. To guide further work, this review sought to examine existing studies to ascertain what is known about factors associated with sexual role functioning, sexual satisfaction, and intimacy, the screening tools employed, and the preparedness of burn care staff in initiating discussions about these. We employed a scoping review approach with extensive searches in four peer-reviewed databases for studies reporting on the phenomenon, published in English from 2010 to date. Seventeen studies comprising of thirteen studies reporting on the burn survivors and four reporting on burn care staff were retained. Though we identified both sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with post-burn sexual role functioning, sexual satisfaction, and intimacy, the existing evidence appear limited which made it rather difficult to draw definitive conclusions. The sexuality subscale of the Burn Specific Health Scale- Brief emerged as the commonly used screening/ assessment tool. The evidence suggest that burn care staff are generally unprepared to initiate discussions regarding sexual role functioning, sexual satisfaction, and intimacy and often, there is no personnel assigned to this task. There is a great need for studies to strengthen the evidence base regarding the factors associated with post-burn sexual role functioning, sexual satisfaction, and intimacy. Additionally, it is imperative to build capacity of burn care practitioners with the requisite know-how needed to navigate through sexual issues.

Journal article

A comprehensive nurse-led aftercare programme addressing post-burn sexual well-being of adult burn survivors: a randomised controlled trial

Featured 11 November 2024 BMC Nursing23(1):818 Springer Science and Business Media LLC
AuthorsBayuo J, Wong FKY, Wong AKC, Baffour PK, Chung LYF

BACKGROUND: Sexual well-being is a key part of being human yet often remains shrouded in secrecy and poorly addressed in the clinical setting. The impact of burns and its long-term sequelae often lead to concerns regarding body image disturbance, self-esteem issues, and interpersonal challenges which can impact on an individual's sexual well-being. However, existing post-burn rehabilitation programmes usually lack components addressing concerns regarding sexual well-being. As a part of a larger project, we developed a nurse-led aftercare programme, and this study sought to examine the effects of the programme in addressing the post-burn sexual well-being of adult burn survivors. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial approach was used. Sixty burn survivors aged ≥ 18 years with burn size ≥ 10% total burn surface area were assigned to intervention and control groups. Participants in the intervention group underwent the nurse-led aftercare programme which involved pre-discharge support and proactive follow-up support over 8 weeks. The sexuality subscale of the Burn Specific Health Scale-Brief was used to evaluate the outcome of interest. Data were collected at three timepoints: baseline (T0), post-intervention (T1), and follow-up (T2). RESULTS: Using a corrected p value of 0.017, the study observed only statistically significant time effect at both T1 and T2. Both group and interaction effects were statistically insignificant for this outcome. CONCLUSION: Issues regarding sexual well-being are often considered sacred and may be challenging to discuss. Thus, a longer duration of the intervention may be considered with ongoing training of practitioners to identify and resolve emerging challenges. Despite the non-significant interaction and group effects, including sexual well-being support in post-burns rehabilitation programmes will facilitate access to and utilisation of the service among burn survivors who may need it. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Prospectively registered on 14th August 2020. CLINICALTRIALS: govNCT04517721.

Journal article

Utilisation of palliative/ end-of-life care practice recommendations in the burn intensive care unit of a Ghanaian tertiary healthcare facility: An observational study

Featured August 2024 Burns50(6):1632-1639 Elsevier BV
AuthorsBayuo J, Baffour PK

BACKGROUND: The need to integrate palliative/end-of-life care across healthcare systems is critical considering the increasing prevalence of health-related suffering. In burn care, however, a general lack of practice recommendations persists. Our burn unit developed practice recommendations to be implemented and this study aimed to examine the components of the practice recommendations that were utilised and aspects that were not to guide further training and collaborative efforts. METHODS: We employed a prospective clinical observation approach and chart review to ascertain the utilisation of the recommendations over a 3-year period for all burn patients. We formulated a set of trigger parametres based on existing literature and burn care staff consultation in our unit. Additionally, a checklist based on the practice recommendations was created to record the observations and chart review findings. All records were entered into a secure form on Google Forms following which we employed descriptive statistics in the form of counts and percentages to analyse the data. RESULTS: Of the 170 burn patients admitted, 66 (39%) persons died. Although several aspects of each practice recommendation were observed, post-bereavement support and collaboration across teams are still limited. Additionally, though the practice recommendations were comprehensive to support holistic care, a preponderance of delivering physical care was noted. The components of the practice recommendations that were not utilised include undertaking comprehensive assessment to identify and resolve patient needs (such as spiritual and psychosocial needs), supporting family members across the injury trajectory, involvement of a palliative care team member, and post-bereavement support for family members, and burn care staff. The components that were not utilised could have undoubtedly helped to achieve a comprehensive approach to care with greater family and palliative care input. CONCLUSION: We find a great need to equip burn care staff with general palliative care skills. Also, ongoing collaboration/ partnership between the burn care and palliative care teams need to be strengthened. Active family engagement, identifying, and resolving other patient needs beyond the physical aspect also needs further attention to ensure a comprehensive approach to end of life care in the burn unit.